Wrestling previews: Ottawa, Sandwich, Streator, Seneca, Somonuak, Marquette hit the mats

Here is an early-season look at the area’s high school wrestling programs as a full (hopefully!) 2021-22 season gets underway after an abbreviated campaign last school year:

Ottawa

Coach: Pete Marx (18th season)

Boys team

Last season’s record: 12-10

Top returning competitors: Tristan Simmons, sr., (132), Tristan Wheeler, sr., (138), Charles Medrow, jr., (182), Landon Marx, jr., (113), LeMarcus Petty, jr., (220), Tate Spicer, jr., (170), Casey Kammerer, so., (120), Ivan Munoz, so., (106), Merek Duffy, so., (152), Wyatt, Reding so., (160)

Top new competitor: Ryan Wilson, so., (285)

Worth noting: Medrow returns as the lone state qualifier from last spring at 182, but Marx — who recently learned he has been selected for indiction into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame — is excited about all the young talent that exists within his lineup and what’s ahead for OHS on the mats. “We were very young last season, and we only graduated a couple of guys, so we’re still going to be extremely youthful in terms of senior leadership,” Marx said. “This group is very coachable, so I think we’re going to be OK. We’ll have some ups and downs, but I believe there will be some qualifiers and ultimately a very solid year that will prepare us for future seasons gaining some excellent experience with a talented group. I’m really excited to coach this team moving forward.”

Girls team

Top competitors: Sara Meyer, sr., (140), Kailey Johnson, sr., (138), Cassie Nelson, sr., (170), Anastasia Shipanko, jr., (100), Lexi Innis, so., (155), Shelby Rank, so., (195), Kailee Lane, fr., (120)

Worth noting: The Illinois High School Association has added girls wrestling as a sport for the 2021-22 school year, and OHS after a strong showing with its young women in recent years competing in JV matches and at girls-only tournaments will field a team of seven competitors. Meyer finished eighth during last spring’s Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association State Meet at 138 pounds. She figures to be the leader of the group. “It’s just great to see the girls getting involved in wrestling, especially now with the IHSA recognizing their sport,” Marx said. “I love coaching the girls, because they work so hard and are very eager to learn. I can’t wait for the day when we have 20 or 30 girls on our team eventually. But this is a great start for us, and I’m very optimistic we’ll have some excellent success.”

Sandwich

Coach: Derek Jones (3rd season)

Last season’s record: 18-8

Top returning competitors: Evan Reilly, sr., (135), Aiden Linden, sr., (152), Sammy Dale, sr., (170), Alex Alfaro, sr., (182), Connor Holly, sr., (195/220), Kaiden Gustafson, sr., (195/220), Jaime Serrano, sr., (220/235), Nolan Bobee, jr., (145), Ashlyn Strenz, so., (106), Kadin Kern, so., (120), Miles Corder, so., (126)

Top new competitors: Anthony Sparti, sr., (113), Evan Fraser, sr., (132), Gabe Galvan, jr., (145/152), Lashaun Glenn, so., (126), Sy Smith, so., (132/138)

Worth noting: The Indians are loaded with senior talent and lost only two competitors off last spring’s squad that finished third in their IWCOA Class A Regional behind perennial powerhouses Dakota and Lena-Winslow. SHS returns one state qualifier (Reilly) and seven sectional advancers (Kern, Corder, Bobee, Linden, Alfaro, Gustafson, and Holly). So this season could lead to some great success for a school rich in wrestling tradition, as the Indians have compiled four state championships, a second-place finish, four third-place trophies, and one fourth-place piece of hardware since legendary Hall of Fame coach Lon Gerrish helped start the Sandwich wrestling program in 1982.

Streator

Coach: T.J. Moran (2nd season)

Last season’s record: 0-8

Top returning competitors: Braxton Mushimba, sr., (170), Seth Miles, sr., (195), Nicholas Pollett, so., (106), Mikey Greer, so., (145)

Top new competitors: Steven Goplin, so., (152), Jaylen Richardson, fr., (132), Taylor Barbee, fr., (132), Keiran Lesuire, fr., (160), Billy Richardson, fr., (182)

Worth noting: Moran a 2017 graduate of SHS, believes he has a small but mighty bunch even though the number of athletes in the program are down again this year. “I know we don’t have a lot of guys wrestling this year, but I’m looking forward to seeing how our newcomers improve over the season,” Moran said. “I’m also confident our returners will perform in an amazing way as the year progresses. I have some high expectations for this group even though we don’t have many guys in the program.” Miles and Mushimba should both make some noise.

Seneca

Coach: Todd Yegge (25th season)

Last season’s record: 33-2

Top returning competitors: Owen Feiner, sr., (135), Jaden Casey, sr., (120), Nate Othon, so., (132), Asher Hamby, so., (145), Chris Peura, so., (195)

Top new competitors: Alex Bogner, so., (220), Liam Blue, so., (285), Tommy Milton, fr., (113), Justin Goslin, fr., (126), Robbie Nelson, fr., (132), Ryan Flynn, fr., (145), Aiden Burton, fr., (160)

Worth noting: The Irish produced an incredible campaign last spring, compiling a school-record number of wins while finishing No. 9 in the Class A state IWCOA rankings. Seneca won the Yorkville Christian Super Regional and had three state qualifiers. One of those three returnees in Feiner, currently ranked No. 7 by the IWCOA at 138 pounds. Casey didn’t make it to state last season but is currently ranked No. 10 at 126, but will wrestle at 120. “We are currently ranked No. 4 as a team in the IWCOA ratings, but I’m not sure we are at that level, at least at this point of the season,” Yegge said. “I’ve got a lot of (freshmen/sophomores) in my lineup right now. We’re going to wrestle independent and unaffiliated with no conference matches, so that’s a big difference for us. We’re very young, but I know we’ll get better and hopefully develop into what last year’s team was in a year or two. I think we have the guys to do it, and maybe we’ll get there very quickly. I hope.”

Somonauk

Coaches: Mike Otto and Jim Rowan (6th season)\

Top returning competitors: Shea Reisel,sr., (113), Aiden Rowan, jr., (126)

Top new competitors: Declan McKinney, jr., (138), Michael Anderson, jr., (170), Asa Valela, so., (120), Gavin Menard, so., (152), Mason Smith, fr., (113), Van Roth, fr., (132), Rylie Donahue, fr., (135)

Worth noting: Reisel has been a powerhouse as a girl competing against the boys for the past three seasons and will continue to do so primarily during her senior year until the newly minted IHSA Girls Wrestling State Championships take place early in 2022. Last year, Reisel qualified for IWCOA Boys 1A State at 106 pounds, finishing fourth at the Yorkville Christian Regional and runner-up at the Sandwich Sectional. Freshman female teammate Donahue will compete on the girls level, while Aiden Rowan should prove to be a force as a key returner for the Bobcat boys leading a small and young contingent of Somonauk grapplers.

Marquette

Coach: Kyle Lowman (5th season)

Top returning competitor: Maclane Rinearson (145)

Top new competitors: Kaden Englert fr. (120), Nolan Demink fr. (126)

Worth noting: Lowman has three wrestlers on his squad this season, with Rinearson as the only experienced grappler on the varsity level. The coach is hoping to get the best out of his limited troops with an eye on the future in the pursuit of luring others to compete on the Marquette mats in the future. While the Crusaders traditionally don’t have great numbers, they usually fight to some individual success on the mats and were a dominant force in the Northeastern Athletic Conference before, like football, moving to an independent schedule. Marquette is set to open Thursday at Eureka.